During Sunday night’s AEW Revolution PPV Event, Swerve Strickland defeated Ricochet to become the new #1 Contender to the AEW World Championship. Strickland appeared on the post-show media scrum to talk about a number of topics, including earning a shot at the AEW World Championship.
Strickland said, “All this feels divine for me. I debuted here three years ago at Revolution. Revolution last year I wrestled in the three-way for the AEW World Championship. And now this year’s Revolution, I won the #1 contendership for the AEW World Championship. So since the first Revolution, I’ve been talking about coming for championships. And it was a bold statement right out the gate with a lot of people who weren’t familiar with who I was, a lot of people that weren’t familiar with where I came from, what I was capable of, what I would do. It was a lot of doubt in the atmosphere that night. And ever since then, I’ve gone on to win Tag Team Championships, I’ve gone on to headline PPVs as World Champion. Then I got to headline All In, the first Black wrestler to ever main event Wembley Stadium. And they still cast doubt in so many different ways. And that’s something that I really thrive for. And so Revolution is always the PPV that I show up in, silence doubters. And then Dynasty, which is next, is where I shut them up completely.”
On sharing the ring with Cope after the main event:
“So after the PPV, going off the air with Copeland, I didn’t even know he was going to actually still be in the ring. I was like, ‘Man, this is my hero. This is my idol in the ring right now. What would young Stefan Strickland say to his hero, Cope?’ And those were words of like, from the heart. And it was just speaking in a way, like the Crypto Arena, this is where this man made history in this building as well. So it’s just like, ‘Man, what would I say to him?’ And that’s what you heard. I just looked him dead in the eye, but understanding that I’m not that kid anymore. Like, everything I’ve learned, everything I’ve done here with Texas Deathmatches, going through all the pain. Putting my body through some of the most excruciating stuff you’ve ever seen with cages and stuff? I learned from Mr. Rated R right there. So if you think I’m gonna go easy, or I’m gonna let up because it’s you and it’s someone I look up to? No, not at this stage of my life of this stage of my career.”
You can check out Strickland’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
